Engineering and Geological Evaluation of Rock Materials as Aggregate for Pavement Construction

Abstract: Construction aggregate is one of the most abundant natural resources and one of the most widely used. These are the crushed and sized rock materials used in concrete and asphalt. Selecting the right aggregate material for pavement construction is imperative to overcome the frequent problem of pavement failure. It needs to resist extreme field conditions of loading and weather. These properties will need to be tested and assured before the road is built. An attempt is made here to study the geological and engineering properties of different rocks from Trivandrum. A variety of rock samples from different parts of Trivandrum are subjected to study petrographic, physical and strength parameters. The engineering studies conducted in simulated field conditions gives an idea about the physical and strength properties of the rocks. The result of the study gives the rock which has maximum favourable properties for use in pavement construction applications, out of the available ones in the study area. Keywords: Charnockite, Garnetiferous Biotite Gneiss, Geologic and engineering evaluation, Quarry mapping.